Approaching an accident which has happened in lane 4 on a managed motorway. Overhead signs 3 miles before have closed lane 1 which everyone obeys. Signs further down explain this is to allow access for services to incident.
2 miles from accident signs say lanes 1 and 4 closed, again everyone complies. Eventually 1.5 miles from accident traffic reaches a standstill.
After 15 minutes, the overhead matrix about 200m ahead changes and displays a red X over lanes 3 & 4 and a 40 speed limit in lanes 1 & 2.
Straight away start engine, get in lane one which is entirely empty and proceed to pass over a mile of stationary traffic right up until the actual scene of accident.
All the time I felt slightly guilty about passing everyone who had been sat there longer than me but at the same time thinking that’s it’s their fault if they’re not paying attention to the signs.
Just waiting for the complaints to come in to the bosses now about driving down a ‘closed’ lane.
Would you sit there out of politeness or crack on and get going?
If the matrix states open then crack on, as you said if drivers aren’t paying attention then it isn’t your problem. I’d have done exactly the same in that situation.
m1cks:
Approaching an accident which has happened in lane 4 on a managed motorway. Overhead signs 3 miles before have closed lane 1 which everyone obeys. Signs further down explain this is to allow access for services to incident.
2 miles from accident signs say lanes 1 and 4 closed, again everyone complies. Eventually 1.5 miles from accident traffic reaches a standstill.
After 15 minutes, the overhead matrix about 200m ahead changes and displays a red X over lanes 3 & 4 and a 40 speed limit in lanes 1 & 2.
Straight away start engine, get in lane one which is entirely empty and proceed to pass over a mile of stationary traffic right up until the actual scene of accident.
All the time I felt slightly guilty about passing everyone who had been sat there longer than me but at the same time thinking that’s it’s their fault if they’re not paying attention to the signs.
Just waiting for the complaints to come in to the bosses now about driving down a ‘closed’ lane.
Would you sit there out of politeness or crack on and get going?
Crack on. The all-knowing God which is the Smart(right…) Motorway has deemed the lane to be open, I’d have done the same.
No brainer you carry on and adhere to the road signs, that is what they are for and what you are supposed to do. If the other dozy ■■■■ s are not paying attention, then that is their problem not yours, if you get any complaints ignore them…end of.
How were they supposed to know the lanes were open? They would have been looking at their phones updating facebook on their struggle with modern day transport
crack on,keep er lit and laugh at the lemmings as you pass…these are the same lemmings that refuse to drive down a bus lane all day when its only live for 2 hours in the morning…morons
dieseldog999:
crack on,keep er lit and laugh at the lemmings as you pass…these are the same lemmings that refuse to drive down a bus lane all day when its only live for 2 hours in the morning…morons
Yeh, a classic example is Aberdeen, I lurrrve the dirty looks I get when passing on the inside
Emergency services will deal with the incident. If people want to sit there all day and not pay attention to the Highway code, that’s up to them.
Same here, Quite funny that people don’t understand “Bus lane Mon-Sat 7-10 and 4-7”
The looks you get for sailing down the inside midday or on a weekend make it worthwhile doing
Twice recently I’ve had to educate a fellow trucker, who have taken it upon themselves to play “lane policeman” by straddling a closed lane to stop people coming past them while they sat in the traffic.
The thing is both were at a standstill midway between 2 sets of gantries, and so did not realise the matrix signs had changed and they were now attempting to block a live running lane that would ease the congestion they were stuck in.
Someone has to be the first to see the sign when it changes. Lead and others follow.
Course proceeding with caution is essential in this situation as there’s a high probability of some self proclaimed lane guardian pulling in front not realising situations have changed.
crack on drive. 
